Interludes and Reflections
by Icon
Summary: A sequel to 'Chain Links' and the start of 'The Honour Guard'


INTERLUDES AND REFLECTIONS  
  
A St Seiya fanfic by Icon  
  
Based on St Seiya by Masami Kurumada.  
  
Completely unauthorised. No permission has been given, no offence has been intended.  
  
From where Shun and June were sitting, the figure in the green armour was indistinct, the sun being directly behind whoever it was, but at a guess it was a woman. The challenge had been given with little indication of aggression, but with Silver Saints it was hard to tell, they tended to be rather arrogant when dealing with those they saw as their inferiors, which was just about everyone.  
  
June may have been exhausted a few seconds ago but no Saint would ever resist a challenge. She still felt it appropriate to give an audible sigh, if she could make her opponent think she was tired then so much the better. (The fact that she _was_ was just something she'd have to handle in due time.)  
  
She gestured towards Shun, "Do you mind if I ask my friend here to deal with this? You would not _believe_ the morning I've had." She'd always wanted to say that, and if you couldn't be flippant having just faced off against a Gold Saint then when?  
  
"The Andromeda Saint has met my challenge before, this time it is your turn, Chamaeleonis Saint."  
  
Shun frowned, he was sure he'd never even seen this woman before, what was this about? A now more alert June whispered in his ear.  
  
"Shun, if you've met this woman before, now would be a _really_ great time to tell me about it."  
  
"Honest, June, I've never seen her before... as far as I can remember at any rate."  
  
"Great time for selective amnesia, thanks anyway."  
  
She sprang to her feet and spoke aloud "Very well Narcissus, I will face you in combat. Stand forward, or we may retire to the arena below if you prefer."  
  
"Not all challenges a Saint faces are physical June. Come to the cave beside Albior's grave, I shall meet you there."  
  
The figure seemed to turn in on itself and vanished without a sound.  
  
June tried to sound blasé, "Well, _that_ was weird. I suppose we better go to the cave..."  
  
She and Shun looked at each other, "Cave?" they said in unison.  
  
"Shun, I don't recall any cave near the grave-site, and I checked this island from one end to the other looking for my Cloth. I know _all_ the caves. Everywhere."  
  
"We might as well go and see, if whoever that was was serious about the challenge, chances are they'll come looking for you again anyway."  
  
"Nice of them to give me a chance to recover I suppose, but I don't like walking into the lions den. Did you notice something else about her? She didn't cast a shadow, it's like she wasn't really there."  
  
"It wouldn't be the first time I've met a Saint who can create illusions."  
  
"I know, it's just interesting, it makes combat more challenging. Though that bit about a non-physical challenge was odd."  
  
They set off together at what to them was a comfortable jog, in other words, a speed probably only a mite slower than an Olympic sprinter. There was quite a way to go to the gravesite and this at least gave June a chance to catch her breath after her confrontation with Milo.  
  
"June, she called you the wrong name."  
  
There was a smile in her voice as she replied "Actually, Shun, she called me the _right_ name."  
  
"But you're Juné, she called you... Joon."  
  
"Like I said, that's my name."  
  
"What? Why..?"  
  
"My father's Japanese, but my mother was a Westerner. Didn't you wonder why my hair was an odd colour for a Japanese... Sorry... forgot who I was talking to. She wanted to give me a Western name and picked June."  
  
"Okay, but why does everyone call you Juné then?"  
  
"Well, when they turned my name into written Japanese it got transliterated, and transliterations almost never end with a consonant, so the 'é' was added to make it easier for Japanese to say. I don't mind, I'm used to it. I must say it is nice to hear someone get it right though. The only other person who does is Saori."  
  
"All you had to do was ask me, June". Shun took great pains to pronounce the name the way the Cassiopeia Saint had.  
  
"What, Shun and June? I don't think so, we'd sound like a bad children's storybook. Juné is fine with me, honest."  
  
With that topic of conversation apparently exhausted, Shun tried to keep the mood light, besides which there was a question he'd been wanting to ask someone, and June was in the right place at the right time.  
  
"June, do you ever wonder what it must be like for normal people?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, look at us, you're barely seventeen and I'm younger than that, yet here we are discussing people who can break the laws of physics as if it was the commonest thing in the world. We're hardly innocent in that regard ourselves either, I can call up miles of animated chain from another dimension, you can become invisible and we're on our way to meet someone who can project illusions at the very least."  
  
When that got no immediate reply., he pressed on, "I know I don't really have any 'normal' friends, and I don't think you do either. When I play soccer with the friends I do have, we have to add a 'no cosmo' rule to the game, it saves on the number of balls we get through. What do you think it's like for people who can't do things like that? Who's biggest thrill is... going to school or something."  
  
"Dull?"  
  
"Well, maybe that too, but it might be pleasant as well. You know, not having to fight anyone to the death to protect someone from a corrupt Pope, or risk your life for some intangible cause for good."  
  
"Shun, we're warriors, Saints of Athena," June paused for a moment, wracking her brains to try and think of "normal" teenage things she had heard about or recalled dimly from her past life and what little television she'd watched in hospital. "We have a little more to worry about than whether we pass calculus, or have a pimple the night of a big dance."  
  
"So _that's_ why you keep wearing the mask?". Shun didn't even try to dodge the dig in the ribs she gave him for _that_ comment. Even his chains didn't react.  
  
"Well," he continued, "maybe you volunteered for it, though that's not how I remember you telling the story, but I didn't have that option. I was drafted into becoming a Saint, or dying in the process, by an elderly Japanese industrialist, who just happens to have been my biological father. I'm just saying it might have been pleasant to just be a plain ordinary kid, growing up, going to school, arguing with your parents, thinking about a job, dating, stuff like that."  
  
"Shun, you've lived the sort of life most people can barely dream about; you've got powers that are a close to magic as make no odds, you've had the sorts of adventures that inspire whole mythologies, you've even met an honest to goodness goddess!"  
  
"Yes, and I won't say it hasn't been incredible, but I've had loss too. I've lost my chance to live a normal life, I had to fight my own brother almost to the death, and just as I got him back I lost him again. I've had to... to kill people who probably believed in what they were doing just as much as I did."  
  
"But you got Ikki back again, and the people you've had to hurt _were_ trying to kill you first. I'm not making light of it, I've never had to actually kill anyone yet so I can't know how you must feel about it, that's something you'll have to face about yourself at some point."  
  
"Think about it Shun, normal people have highs and lows, they can lose family and friends too. It's just that for Saints the highs are unimaginably higher and the lows are far lower. We live our lives on a... grander scale than most, and I for one wouldn't change it for a moment."  
  
"What? You've never thought what it would have been like if you'd stayed with your father in Japan?"  
  
"Sometimes, but no, not really, I was too busy finding my Cloth for the most part and things since then have been a little hectic."  
  
"You don't think that was some sort of substitute? Something to stop you thinking about your father leaving you."  
  
"Thank you, oh Psychoanalysis Saint. I'm sure I could point out a couple of flaws in your personality too if I wanted to.  
  
Now if you'll forgive me I have to get myself ready for this challenge, whatever it is, and that requires a bit of quiet meditation as we go."  
  
Shun shrugged and shut up, but couldn't help but notice how she had, again, stopped the conversation when they got on to the subject of her past. Still, she was right, he felt for others, but wasn't trained in how to best deal with their emotions. Maybe someday, but not now.  
  
He wondered again what the Cassiopeia Saint had meant about knowing him already. He couldn't recall anything that might indicate they'd even met before, in or out of armour.  
  
Once Milo was back in his quarters and had checked that he was alone, he relaxed. He shut his eyes and let out a long slow breath, emptying his lungs until the air was coming out between clenched teeth, the indrawn breath took almost as long. He picked up a rock from the ground and held in his hands as he sank down into the lotus position, trying to find his centre again.  
  
June would never know what this confrontation had cost him. He had had to rebel against every single instinct in his body, every iota of training he had ever received. Simply during the time he had faced her across the arena he had calculated more than thirty ways to disarm her swiftly, twelve ways to kill her, four of them painless. It had been more than merely instinct or habit, it was how he looked at the entire world, how the Scorpio Saint had to act, constantly assessing how best to defeat anyone who might endanger him or his goddess at any time. The effort at self control had been almost more than he could handle, almost more difficult than the combat that had earned him his Cloth in the first place. His fist clenched in a reflex action.  
  
This was twice now he had been in combat and not killed his opponent, Hyoga and now June. Neither deserved to die, he had even saved Hyoga's life, but they had challenged him and that meant they _should_ die, that was the way it had always been, that was the only way that made sense.  
  
He looked down at his hands, where he now held a pile a of sand which he let trickle between his fingers. What he had done had been _right_, he knew that, but it had been _hard_! Would this consideration make him a less effective fighter? Athena clearly did not think so, otherwise she would not have set him the task to learn, but he worried he might hesitate at the wrong moment in future combat? Was it worth the risk to be compassionate? He had much still to consider, he had had to rely on himself for so long, and the Kyo.. Saga had done nothing to discourage his tendencies, actually encouraging them in many subtle ways as they served his own twisted purposes. Learning to trust anyone else's judgement, even his goddess', would take time.  
  
June and Shun had arrived at Albior's grave. Each made a small bow as they passed, as was proper, before starting to look for a cave.  
  
It took them barely moments to find it, an opening, partially hidden by rocks, that at first glance, might not look like a tunnel opening.  
  
"I'd swear that this wasn't here before. I checked along this entire cliff- face when I was here two months ago burying Albior, I didn't want any predators living nearby who might give trouble, and there was no opening whatsoever."  
  
"You did not see it because I did not wish you to," echoed a voice from the darkness beyond. "Enter Chamaeleonis Saint, the Andromeda Saint will remain outside." The tone was as commanding as they had come to expect of Silver Saints, but lacked a little of the arrogance that usually went with it.  
  
"Now _there's_ an inviting welcome..." whispered June, but she squared their shoulders and marched in, her hand on the handle of her whip.  
  
Shun kept an eye on his chains, just in case of a sneak attack, but they showed no sign of anything. He settled down to wait.  
  
The tunnel June walked down was long and dark, but there was clearly a source of light up ahead as the shadows were never complete and the walls were of some reflective substance. Eventually the tunnel opened into a vast chamber.  
  
And what a chamber it was; breathtaking was the word that sprang to mind, but was woefully inadequate. It was like standing inside an enormous geode, with light sparkling off a hundred thousand crystals. A small opening near the cathedral-high ceiling, supported by giant pillars of what must be pure rock crystal, let the light in, reflecting and refracting it over and over.  
  
Panels of polished white quartz lined the walls but there were other minerals in evidence, here the red of garnet, there the yellow of citrine, there again a sapphire-like blue shade. The polished walls of crystal reflected everything in the chamber over and over; there were a reflections of June visible everywhere; in the wall's, on the ceilings, even in the floor beneath images could be glimpsed.  
  
There were tables and benches composed of flat-topped crystal protrusions, the former with books and papers, pages rustling in the breeze that blew from who knew where, the latter even had some cushions. In the centre of the chamber was a wide, shallow pool of clear water, towards the left was a tunnel leading further into the mountain. This was a cave that was lived in.  
  
Beside the pool was what could only be the Cloth of the Cassiopeia Saint in it's representational form; It was the stylised figure of woman, sitting on a simple throne, the tearful "face" carved into the mask was gazing into a simple hand mirror that was shackled to the figure's wrist with a length of chain.  
  
"Lovely, isn't it?" came a voice from behind her.  
  
June whirled around, at the same time the Cloth on the dais disassembled and flew through the air, the pieces of metal twisting and folding in on themselves as they passed over her head, surrounding a figure that had somehow found an area of shadow to stand in.  
  
Now fully armoured, the Cassiopeia Saint stepped forward into the light. Whoever it was wearing a face-mask but, unlike June's, it appeared to be part of the Cloth itself, the metal was the same green colour as the rest of the Cloth and it stretched further round, more like an extension of the helmet proper, rather than a simple and separate mask.  
  
From the headband, three long blade-like spikes curved up, and the shoulder pieces were large and rounded, but more curved than Shun's and coming to a point halfway round, following the curve of the figures shoulders.  
  
She noticed with a start that this Cloth probably resembled Shun's new Cloth the way his old one had resembled Albior's; a family resemblance as it were. The breastplate was more pronounced on Narcissus, but was the same shape, and though there was more leg armour, the basic design was similar. The only other difference was that instead of the lengths of chain around both wrists, this figure had chains only around her right wrist and it was attached to the hand mirror  
  
Maybe Mu had done it deliberately, in his capacity as smith he almost certainly knew the designs of all of Athena's Cloths and thought that the Andromeda Cloth should resemble one of its "parents".  
  
"I said; Lovely, isn't it." The voice was rich and deep, with an odd accent June couldn't quite place.  
  
"Yes, I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever seen anywhere quite so beautiful."  
  
"Athena herself crafted this place millennia ago. That is why its defences are so well formed. Not even a Gold Saint could sense it if I did not wish them to."  
  
"Your parents called you Narcissus?" June's tone was implausibly innocent, anything to try and get this Saint off balance could only help her.  
  
The Cassiopeia Saint seemed to take the question calmly "Many Saints rarely use their birth names. They prefer to have names that define their nature rather than the ones they simply happened to be given by their parents. My own birth-name was... most unsuitable."  
  
"And _you_ chose Narcissus instead? That's almost worse than finding out it was your parents."  
  
Still the Saint wouldn't rise to the taunt, "In all mythology, Narcissus is the epitome of self obsession and vanity, and it was the vanity of the first Cassiopeia that nearly cost her her only child. I choose to remind myself of the principle rather than worry about the gender of the original."  
  
"And even if I had not done so, this mirror", she gestured to the looking- glass in her hand "is chained to my wrist by a length of the chains of Andromeda herself, so that I may never forget the price of vanity."  
  
"The Cassiopeia Saint is always beautiful as well as powerful in cosmo. I say that without arrogance as it is a simple statement of fact. However, the price of wearing this Cloth is that it's wearer may never again see their own reflection. This mask will hide my face for the rest of my life, and even when I am not wearing it, I cast no reflection. It is the Penance of Cassiopeia as decreed by the gods."  
  
Looking around June realised what had been bothering her about the place. With all the reflections around her she couldn't see Narcissus in any of them. June thought about that and the implications it would have. She had never considered herself vain, but even so, to live in what amounted to a hall of mirrors and to never ever see your own reflected face would be disconcerting to say the least, vampire legends ran through her head unbidden. On the other hand it could be a useful infiltration technique.  
  
"But like the other Cloths that ended up on Andromeda Island, Athena ensured that the Cassiopeia Cloth was rather.. special. Any good warrior knows that information and intelligence about your enemy is the key to victory in battle, she sought to gain that advantage."  
  
June had to smile at this, Saori Kido had used her grandfathers resources to amass a hugely efficient information-gathering system through the Glaude Foundation before she even became aware of her true nature. It came as no surprise that this was an aspect of Athena.  
  
"Watch" said the Silver Saint. June felt a cosmo signature rising from the hand-mirror, its surface fogged over for a second and suddenly the image changed, until it resembled nothing so much as a window. Something moved inside it that had nothing to do with reflection.  
  
"The Cassiopeia Saint cannot leave this chamber, but watches all that goes on in the world from here. I can see any reflection but my own. ANY reflection, ANYWHERE. It was located far from Sanctuary as a means of security, protected from sight by Athena herself and guarded by the Andromeda Saint defences and the Cepheus Saint attacks. Sometimes your own predecessors have defended mine too."  
  
Within the depths of the mirror a new image appeared, showing a purple clad figure in a small room, reading a book.  
  
"Marin, Eagle Saint, in her room outside the Sanctuary."  
  
Another shift and the picture changed, this time to a more massive figure, wearing workout clothes in a large gymnasium. A Cloth chest was visible behind him.  
  
"Ban, Leo Minor Saint, at the Kido Mansion in Japan. I can see anywhere that the ambient cosmo is less powerful than my own, as I am a Silver Saint, this means almost anywhere on Earth. I can't see beyond the Aries Temple in the Sanctuary for example, because the cosmo of a Gold Saint transcends my own. Not that any Cassiopeia Saint in the past has had cause to. If I _had_ been able to see I might have had a chance to warn Athena properly about what was going on. I was able to alert Albior to the fact that something evil was happening, but I couldn't be more specific until it was too late. Likewise there are certain... powers, that Athena has arranged non-interference with, to prevent trouble with other gods and pantheons."  
  
"You said you had met Shun before, but he doesn't think he has, what did you mean?"  
  
"Though he would never say as much, Albior was concerned about Shun facing the Trial of Andromeda, and asked him to face my challenge first. He passed the test, so we were confident in his abilities, but we knew that knowledge of that success might adversely affect him in the Trial itself so he allowed us to lock the memories away in his mind."  
  
"And you said that the challenge was to my soul, not my body."  
  
"Indeed, with at least two other Cloths protecting this place the need to test physical challenges seems less than necessary. Anyone who could get past the Cepheus and Andromeda Saints would be a mighty opponent indeed. Still, I am a Silver Saint and more than capable of physical attack."  
  
Narcissus lifted the mirror in her hand and, as greenish energy glowed around her, passed it in front of her mask, "Mirror Image!".  
  
For a second June saw her own face reflected in the mirror and then the form of the Silver Saint shimmered. A moment later June was looking at herself; the Silver Saint was now the same size as her and looked totally identical even down to the Cloth. Only the fact the whip was in the right hand instead of the left hand and that the spike on her headband was on the wrong side proved it to be a reflection. The voice that came from behind the mask was still that of Narcissus.  
  
"I can match you blow for blow and move for move, you could no more defeat me than you could your own mirror image."  
  
Almost on reflex June flexed her whip and casually sent waves down it, finally lifting her hand up so the whip was in a striking position. The mirror image responded in exactly the same way at exactly the same time, the technique was as flawless as her own.  
  
"Thanks to Albior's training, my Seventh Sense is one of the best developed of all the Saints, I acquire your moves at the speed of light and not even Silver Saints can move fast enough to counter that."  
  
With a slight chiming sound the mirror image flickered again, and the Cassiopeia Saint stood there again.  
  
June asked a question that she had suspected from the first appearance of the Saint.  
  
"So you and Albior were... lovers?"  
  
"Would it concern you if we were?"  
  
June thought her answer over carefully; "It would please me to think that he had someone who cared for him and loved him, he deserved that."  
  
"Most of us do, and he did, but whether it was me or not is a private matter. Know that he loved, and was loved, by one worthy of him."  
  
The words had the ring of truth to them, and June decided to let the matter drop, Narcissus continued anyway.  
  
"Albior and I came to the Island together. Though I was the first female student to ever come to Andromeda Island he had total faith in my abilities. Partly due to his encouragement, I achieved the Cassiopeia Cloth before he achieved the Cepheus Cloth, indeed I believe I was the first female Saint ever appointed by Athena. There was no conflict between Albior and I, we both had sensed our destiny was not to be rivals, but allies."  
  
"But now to the matter in hand. You have been challenged, and in Athena's name must respond."  
  
"I could refuse, I learned a valuable lesson about picking my fights this morning."  
  
"If you do refuse then you will be expelled from the ranks of the Saints of Athena and your Cloth will reject you forever, an experience you might not even survive. I swear this upon the honour of my Cloth, the blood of Athena, and her own immortal soul."  
  
June gasped audibly, this was the most serious oath a Saint of Athena could swear and no one, not even a Gold Saint could misuse it at the risk of incurring the wrath of a furious goddess, whose name should not be invoked in vain. There were legends whispered amongst students of former Saints who had misused that oath and the terrible fates that had befallen them. If Narcissus was prepared to use it then her threat must be totally genuine.  
  
"In that case of course, I have no choice but to accept the challenge. What must I do?"  
  
"Just look in my mirror and then look away, that is all. If you can manage that, then you have passed the test."  
  
"I imagine it'll be a little more complicated than that."  
  
"It will be, but that's how you start the Challenge, what happens after that is entirely up to you. Now prepare yourself."  
  
June shook her shoulders and body, relaxing herself. Taking a breath she looked up to stare the Silver Saint right in the face, or mask rather..  
  
"Do not look from behind your mask June, face the mirror as you truly are."  
  
"Do I have to? I am not used to fighting without it, it isn't... seemly."  
  
"If you cannot even bear to look at your own face before you start, then you will not survive this experience."  
  
Reluctantly June reached up and slipped off her mask. Twice in one day, that had to be a record for her. She turned to face the Cassiopeia Saint.  
  
The Cassiopeia Saint took a fairly relaxed stance, holding the mirror clasped in both hands raised above her head. Silvery green fire burned the air around her and the mirror frame glowed brighter.  
  
June felt her own cosmo build up almost on instinct and kept her hand on her whip, but made no move to attack.  
  
"Inner Reflection!" As she shouted the words she brought the mirror down so it was at arms length, and turned the mirror round in her hands. Silver and green light shot out of the reflective surface to strike June.  
  
June felt no impact and looked straight into the mirror. She could see her own face looking back at her, but there was more. She didn't see a single face but others too, all her, but at different times in her life. She was a baby, a little girl, a young woman and what she could only imagine was herself as an old woman, her face lined and her skin wrinkled, her white hair straggling down her back.  
  
The faces started to separate and swim around the surface of the mirror. With a start June saw they were starting to drift away from the surface mirror, gaining substance as they moved, until she was surrounded by images of herself from different times of her life. None of the faces seemed friendly.  
  
"Prove yourself against me" challenged her exact mirror image  
  
"Am I only to be a warrior?" asked a fifteen year old June.  
  
"Will I ever find what I'm looking for?" asked a twelve year old June.  
  
"Was my life not worth more than this?" asked the old woman  
  
"Why did Daddy send me away?" asked the little girl.  
  
Unsure of what to do next, she turned to face the nearest reflection, which was of herself as she currently was, except this version was wearing her mask.  
  
"Prove yourself!" the figure hissed, flexing the whip in her hand.  
  
June folded her arms and her voice was firm and even "I don't need to prove myself any more. I fight well, but I choose my battles and I choose not to fight you."  
  
"You withdraw? You refuse? Are you a coward then?" the reflection pressed her.  
  
"No, I have faced fiercer opponents than myself and won. I simply don't have a good enough reason to fight you. I won't fight for the sake of it." As she said it, she realised that she really meant it.  
  
"Then you have failed Albior!" the voice of the reflection sounded disgusted.  
  
"On the contrary, I honour him by refusing you! He taught me to be a warrior, not a savage. You achieve nothing by your actions except shame."  
  
With a gasp of pain (or horror, it was hard to tell) the reflection of herself shattered with a sound like breaking glass. She looked down and saw nothing but broken shards of mirror. Was this a self she might have been had Milo not shown her the shallowness of revenge as a motivation? A soulless warrior looking to prove herself against any perceived threat?  
  
It was a thought worth bearing in mind as she turned to face the next reflection. This was the twelve year old June. She hadn't realised how much she had grown in the years between then and now.  
  
"Will I ever find what I am looking for? I've been looking for so long now, and still I haven't found it."  
  
"You will find it little sister, I promise you, you just have to keep looking. Don't lose heart, _never_ lose heart."  
  
"But I haven't found anything and it's been weeks now! Why should I keep looking? It's dangerous here and I want to go home" The voice had a strong petulant whine to it that June didn't recognise as her own, was this the self she would have been if she hadn't taken Albior's lessons to heart? If she had not adjusted to life on the Island and imagined that life would be the same if she returned to her father?  
  
"Weeks? You must be prepared to spend years, your whole life if need be! If you are prepared to give up so easily, you can't want what awaits you very much. You don't deserve to find what you are seeking."  
  
With a keening sound torn from the depths of whatever soul she had the second reflection shattered. June now turned eagerly to face her next "alter ego", the fifteen year old June, wearing her Cloth for what could have been the first time.  
  
"Am I to be a warrior and nothing else? What if I want more from my life, what if I want some happiness for me instead of fighting for some goddess I don't even believe in?"  
  
"You will come to believe in her, but more to the point, she will always believe in you. And you must be prepared to fight for your happiness. There is nothing to stop a warrior finding joy in their lives, in fact they value such joy more than others because they have had to fight for it. If you cannot see the value in fighting for a just cause to protect those who cannot help themselves, then there is nothing in this world that you would find value in, at least, nothing truly worth having."  
  
To her surprise, this figure made no protest, but actually smiled as she fractured and fell, as if a weight had been lifted from her mind in her last moments. This was the June who had worried about living only to fight when she first received her Cloth, the answer June had given was satisfaction enough.  
  
"And what about me girl?" The old June's voice was strong, but harsh "These fragments of your past, caught in mirror-glass, are one thing, but I am your future. I know all that transpires in your life to come."  
  
"I've seen what few friends you have now, and might have in the future, die stupid and pointless deaths, for a goddess who does not care about them. Athena loses her humanity as time goes by, her human host becomes frail and old, but a goddess' life energy is immortal and becomes stronger and stronger as the decades pass. She cares no more for humans than you do for insects."  
  
June found herself struggling for an answer. "I have met the incarnation Athena, I do not believe that she could become so cruel. She loves life as a human, and among humans, too much for that."  
  
As if sensing her insecurity the old woman pressed on, "You say that now, young one. But you haven't seen the future I have. Shall I tell you how ALL your friends die? Shall I tell how your precious little Shun dies? It's a long and painful death I promise you, and him so young too." The woman's voice was openly gloating now  
  
"Or Sybil perhaps? Shall I tell you what fate befalls her? It's not what you might expect, and it's not nice either. Shall I tell you which of your allies fall by our hands? Shall I tell you how many lives you end over the years? Shall I tell you how you kill your own husband and children?"  
  
June could feel fury building up within her, "Now you have gone too far you hag! Up until then I might have believed you but I could never harm an innocent child, least of all my own. What a... sad life you must have led. If all I have learned to do over the years is store up bile and bitterness, hatred and fear, then I'd sooner die now. But I won't give you the satisfaction."  
  
"I've seen you now, and I know that I must never let myself become like you. I believe I am fighting for justice, I KNOW I am and if ever I doubt that, then I will picture you in my mind and do what you would NOT do, that way I can be sure I am doing the right thing."  
  
"A good answer my child, a fine ambition, but we shall see how events transpire, see how your life develops. _I_ already know of course and I will be waiting to see what you do, and I will remind you of this conversation from time to time. Next time you stare into a mirror you will see a part of me, waiting further down your lifetime for you. Remember that my once and former self."  
  
This time the figure didn't shatter, but simply became pale and faded away. June knew she had not defeated this reflection, but she had quietened it, for now. The thought she might see such a grotesque reflection of herself again worried her deeply.  
  
There was one other reflection waiting to face her, the youngest one. In her eyes June could see the self she had seen in mirrors just after her mother had died. The loss and loneliness of a child who has lost a parent.  
  
"Why isn't Daddy happy to see me any more?" the question was asked in all innocence. June paled, how could she answer such a question.  
  
"Your Daddy loves you very much little June. But he's having a hard time of his own at the moment. Give him time and he'll be back to normal, really."  
  
"That's what everyone told me just after we had Mummy turned to powder." June winced as she recalled the way she had referred to cremation at the time. It had made perfect sense to her then, but from her adult perspective it was an awfully thoughtless way of putting it. "But it's been a long time now, and he still isn't happy to see me. I think I make him sad. If it weren't for me he'd be happy again."  
  
"It's not you little one, it's him. He's lost your Mummy too, and he finds it hard." Even as she said it the platitude sounded hollow.  
  
"He's my Daddy, he's supposed to love me whatever happens. That's what he and Mummy told me before she died. Why doesn't he love me now?"  
  
"He has other worries, his own feelings and his business take up his time."  
  
"Is his business more important than his own daughter?" The voice was still a little girls, but June recognised an echo of her own, older, voice in the question she had asked herself over and over again through the years.  
  
"Of course not." The answer must sound even more empty to the little girl than it did to herself.  
  
"Then why? Why doesn't he love me? Why? Why is he sending me away from him? I still love him, but he want's me to be somewhere else."  
  
June clasped her hands to her ears in an effort to shut the voice out, but the word "Why?" kept echoing and echoing around inside her head. She knew that only the truth would silence this reflection, but it would mean being totally honest with herself in a way she had carefully avoided for years.  
  
This time the answer was torn from deep down inside her soul "Because he's a COWARD that's why!" She screamed it at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Our precious father is too scared to have anything to do with us because we remind him of her. Because he's too scared to face up to his past and because of that he can never move on and live out his future. "  
  
She rounded on the reflection "It's not my fault she died, it's not your fault she died, it just happened! Death doesn't always have a reason, it just IS! It can be honourable and just, but usually it's stupid and pointless and either way it's inevitable! And if a grown man takes his sorrows out on a child to the point where she starts to blame herself for what was an accidental death, then he is nothing more than coward and he doesn't deserve to have a daughter who loves him."  
  
The little girl was in tears now. June looked shocked, she'd never cried like that as a little girl.  
  
"You mean it isn't my fault?" the young June voice was shocked as if the idea had never occurred to her. June had to admit that it probably hadn't, she hadn't dared think about it herself until years after she'd come to Andromeda Island. But it was what this little girl needed to hear.  
  
"Never think that, little one, NEVER! It's his fault and he will have to live with it. You have to get over that because you are stronger than he is, because you can deal with the pain and use it to better yourself."  
  
This time the shattering sound echoed and re-echoed as the little girl fragmented.  
  
With a start June jerked her head round, and found herself exactly where she had been when she looked in the mirror. She had moved her head and broken contact with the reflection in the hand mirror. She was sweating heavily and her heart was pounding. What was missing were the piles of broken glass where the reflections had been. Then she realised she hadn't seen the Silver Saint at all after the reflections had appeared either.  
  
"So it was just another illusion Cassiopeia Saint?"  
  
"Yes and no. What you saw was an illusion, but there was no 'just' about it. It was as real to you as you felt it would be. If you had allowed yourself to be overcome by your inner reflections you would either have died or gone mad. Ask Phoenix Saint Ikki about how real illusions can be some time."  
  
"How long did it really take?"  
  
"A little under eight seconds all told. Actually I'm extremely impressed, you managed to defeat four of the five selves you faced outright, and the last is contained for the moment. In my time as a Saint I've known only four people who did as well or better."  
  
"Let me guess, you, Albior, Shun and...?"  
  
"No one you know yet. Only two did better than you though."  
  
"Let me guess again, you and Albior?"  
  
"Again, yes and no. I defeated them all certainly, otherwise I could never have worn the Cloth and Albior did as well as you, but didn't beat you, the other one was Shun."  
  
"You mean Shun got through all that better than Albior or me? That boy continues to surprise me."  
  
"So Albior and I thought, and if I am any judge, he will continue to do so. Speaking of which..."  
  
The Silver Saint lowered her head for a second and the silvery green glow of cosmo rose up around her again. When she spoke, her voice had an odd echo to it, as if she were speaking from far away.  
  
"You may enter now, Andromeda Saint."  
  
She straightened, and the glow faded.  
  
"I take it you just sent out one of your illusions. How do you do that?"  
  
"Mirages are only heat-haze reflections, my cosmo boosts the effect a little and it circumvents my problem with reflections, as well as making it a two way process of course."  
  
Shun came running into the cavern, chains grasped in his hands. He stopped dead as he took in the sheer beauty of the surroundings.  
  
"I've been here before haven't I?" the words came out of his mouth before he could even think about them. He'd meant to ask if June was all right, but something about this place had struck an instant chord.  
  
"Yes, you have Andromeda Saint."  
  
Shun tore his gaze away from his surroundings, coming to his senses. "Well, we'll discuss that later. Are you okay June?"  
  
"I'm fine, you'll just have to learn that now I've faced a Gold Saint in combat, a Silver Saint isn't going to be a problem." She forced herself to sound casual again.  
  
"I should point out that the Gold Saint wasn't actually fighting you."  
  
"Don't split hairs.."  
  
"If you don't mind!" The voice of Narcissus interrupted them, this time full of the utter assurance of a Silver Saint "I have some rather important information I am trying to impart to you both. If June survived her ordeals then I was to give messages to you from Athena herself."  
  
"Shun, when you return to Japan, your appointed role is guardian of Athena, and though I am no precognitive I sense that your role will soon be called upon again."  
  
"June, you have a task ahead of you more difficult than any you have known in the past. Many Saints were seduced by the power offered by Saga in his masquerade as the Kyoko. Those who were not truly worthy were chosen as Saints and still, in their hearts, serve those who would harm Athena. Others are innocent, but are under the sway of the Kyoko's influence, even after his death. I suspect another's hand at work here, but they have power enough to cloud my mirrors sight so I cannot be sure."  
  
Shun looked as if he was about to ask a question about what that might mean, but June silenced him with a gesture.  
  
"Athena has decreed that a group of Saints be sent to locate and test these... Shadow Saints, lurking in the darkness of the world. Something shields them from her justice directly, but a group of loyal Saints, an Honour Guard, shall seek them out and either bring them to their sense, or ensure that they are no longer a threat to Athena. You will be a member of that group, your skills at infiltration should prove invaluable to them."  
  
"Am I to lead this.. Honour Guard?"  
  
"That is for you all to decide, if leadership is what you seek, then perhaps you shall find it, perhaps not. There is no particular glory in leadership though, as long as you serve to the best of your abilities it shouldn't matter."  
  
June nodded in agreement, "So who are they to be and where are we to meet?"  
  
"I do not know all of the Saints who will form the group, though I believe you have met at least one of them. Some are already at the gathering place, others will join after you have arrived. You will meet in the Glaude Foundation Headquarters in Tokyo, but after that you will travel further afield. The Shadow Saints are spread across the world and you will have to seek them out."  
  
June felt a glow of satisfaction, she had been wondering what would happen to her after this, but as she hadn't expected to be alive after her confrontation with Milo she hadn't really planned ahead. Without Albior dead and Shun having other commitments she hadn't really felt much of a tie to the Island anymore.  
  
It was typical of Athena to have already laid her plans for this eventuality. Now June had a mission to accomplish she had something to live for, something to prove Albi.. she corrected herself, to prove _herself_ worthy of. Athena must think highly of her to have selected her.  
  
One last worry crossed her mind, though. "What about the other students here? We can't just leave them here."  
  
"I think it is time that the Cassiopeia Saint lived up to her 'family responsibility' and took over their training. I may not be able to leave this chamber directly, but my reflections can be elsewhere and others can enter. It would please me to continue Albior's work, there is too much talent and commitment here to be wasted. Neither all the students nor Cloths of Andromeda Island have yet found their destiny in this cycle. I will make my presence known to them later today and inform them that their training will resume forthwith if they so wish it. Now, I see the Andromeda Saint has a lot of questions to ask us, so perhaps we should spend some time in explanation..."  
  
June was only half listening, her final concern was now laid to rest, Albior's work would not be wasted and his legacy would be the Saints to come. She started thinking about her coming assignment. She wondered who her team-mates would be and where they might be going. It would certainly be an adventure...  
  
Elsewhere, in another cavern thousands of miles distant from Andromeda Island, two figures sat across from each other round a table. Unlike the airy and bright Cave of Cassiopeia, this was a dark and dismal place, the air was damp and had a rancid edge to it.  
  
The two figures were so unlike each other the contrast was almost comical. One was unnaturally tall and thin, swathed in a hooded robe of the deepest blue, embroidered with ancient astrological and alchemical symbols in silver and gold thread. Though it was hard to be definite, there was something about the figure that suggested a woman rather than a man. The other figure was short and wide. He too wore robes, but they were plain by comparison.  
  
The tall figure spread her claw-like hands over the object that sat in the middle of the table. It was beautiful and elegant and clearly very old, a globe of the night sky, about two feet in diameter, spun out of metal filigree. The shapes of the constellations defined with wires of bronze and silver and gold. Each star was picked out with a tiny pearl, sized according to luminosity. Some of the pearls were lustrous and seemed to glow from within, whilst others were dull and lifeless.  
  
As her hands passed over it the wires seemed to hum with power and several constellations shone more brightly. Barely visible fire ran along the wires, but didn't burn.  
  
"And so it begins", the voice from within the hood was dry and raspy, sounding as if every breath were being forced through lungs that had long since taken their last natural breath.  
  
"I know that, Astrologer", muttered the other. _His_ voice was little more than a growl. "We have been protected by our secrecy and seclusion until now, but that might soon be over. We must take action, and mobilise our forces. The next phase of our plan begins and we will be ready."  
  
Together the two began to plot, pointing to various constellations and arguing over the relative merits of each...  
  
In a room at the Kido mansion a girl with long purple hair sat in a darkened room. The walls were hung with white sheets and all the furniture apart from a single chair and a small stand had been removed. It looked more like a rather sparse tent than a room. On the stand sat a small plastic box. With a smile she reached forward and pressed the small switch on the boxes side. Instantly the inside of the room was illuminated as light streamed from the box.  
  
The device on the stand was a battery operated toy, a planetarium projector that Seiya had bought for her, he had even coerced Tatsumi into helping him prepare this room. The toy would have cost a couple of thousand yen at the most and to say its resolution was poor would be understating the case considerably. The stars were mere dark spots on the plastic bubble, so the projection was the negative of the night sky, the star and constellation names were written alongside them. Someone, she suspected Miho due to the excellent penmanship, had sketched in the images of the constellations with the aid of a marker pen, and done a fine job of it too.  
  
Work was in progress to rebuild the full-scale planetarium that her beloved Grandfather had first ordered made. The projector would be a masterpiece of precision engineering, the finest Zeiss lenses and months of craftsmen's intensive effort. The cost would be many millions of yen but she had millions to spare. Even so, she valued this cheap toy more than the full- sized planetarium.  
  
She sensed the stars in the heavens above in a way no mere human could understand. The part of her that was Athena was in tune with them at an almost spiritual level, one of the reasons she had chosen to pattern her Saints after them. The human part of her still liked the idea of the planetarium but loved Seiya's gift more.  
  
The old Planetarium had been built for her grandfather, and though she had always used it with his blessing, it had still always been _his_, as would the new one, which was simply a replacement. This one was meant to be hers and had been a gift from someone who was more than a mere friend, such gifts were to be treasured more than anything.  
  
She had fine Saints, some of whom were even finer friends, loyal and true, prepared to die for her without a seconds notice. She was not naive enough however, to believe there weren't those who would kill her. Those who, for whatever reason, still viewed her as an usurper, infidel or worse.  
  
Thought she knew they would do so if she asked, it would not be fair to Seiya and his friends to depend on them to sort out such matters. The remaining Gold Saints were involved in matters of their own, Milo had already been away longer than she would have liked, but knew it had been worth the effort, the goddess side of her had heard his prayers of the night before.  
  
She had been sure that he and June would have been able to survive their confrontation. And now she sensed that June had also passed the test of Cassiopeia. Only she had been required to undergo it, because Saori had sensed that events would require a strength of will that only someone who had undergone it could survive.  
  
She turned a dial on the toy, and the constellations shifted across the 'sky'. The small shape of the Chameleon constellation rose into sight. She kept turning the dial and swapping the plastic bubble of the Southern hemisphere for the Northern, until all the constellations had circled past. Yes, she was sure she had made the right choices for her Honour Guard.  
  
"After all," She said out loud, recalling a conversation with her Andromeda Saint, "What sort of an incarnation of the goddess of Wisdom and War would I be if I went around make bad judgement calls? I'm not allowed to make mistakes like that, it's in my contract."  
  
And then she laughed out loud, for the first time in far too long Saori Kido laughed for she sheer fun of it. She made the most of it, as she guessed there'd be little laughter to come in a short while, but for now she just enjoyed the sheer magic of being a human girl of sixteen. 


End file.
